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Research Library
Publication

The Ancient Wisdom at Intersection with Modern Cardiac Sciences

    • Published: 2021
    • Abdullah A. Alabdulgader, M.D., D.C.H., A.B.P., M.R.C.P., F.R.C.P.1
    • Cardiol Vasc Res. 2021; 4(3): 1-13. ISSN 2639-8486.1. Congenital Cardiologist, Invasive Electrophysiologist, Prince Sultan Cardiac Center, Saudi Arabia.
    • Download the complete paper, click here.

Introduction

Since human creation, the human heart is occupying honourable role from physical health, mental and spiritual aspects and beyond. Pharaonic Period, is dated from the 32nd century BC, when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified, until the country fell under Macedonian rule, in 332 BC. The ancient Egyptians believed that the heart, rather than the brain, was the source of human wisdom, as well as emotions, memory, the soul and the personality itself. The ancient Egyptians also did not think much of the brain. In fact, when creating a mummy, the Egyptians scooped out the brain through the nostrils and threw it away.

The human heart was a sacred body part, and its health depended on its contribution to the universal harmony. Historically, the ancient Greeks acknowledged the value of Egyptian medicine. "It was said in Greece that to have studied medicine in Egypt was the highest credential a physician could present"[1]. Scholars agree, "The role of Egyptian medicine in the development of the scientific foundations of Greek and Roman medicine is significant"[2].

The knowledge of the heart, pulse, and vessels in ancient Egypt ought not to be surprising. "To the ancient Egyptians, the heart was the centre of thought, emotion, and all other nervous function, an organ of such importance that it was thought necessary to salvation after death, and was left in the body at the time of mummification to ensure its availability at judgment and during the afterlife.